Julie Steffen, director of Dining Services
While preparing a meal for residents at Country Meadows of Hershey, Julie Steffen, director of Dining Services, was faced with a very serious life-threatening situation. “I was serving dinner to residents when a co-worker came to me and told me a resident was choking,” she says.
Without hesitation, Steffen took action and successfully preformed the Heimlich maneuver on the resident, removing the obstruction. “I was so nervous,” she says, “I kept thinking, ‘am I going to break her?’”
Despite her fears of hurting the small woman, she knew she had to act quickly in order to save the woman’s life.
She handled the situation very smoothly and professionally. “It was a while since I had CPR training and I never had to put it to use,” she notes. Although she was nervous, she remained calm and took control of the situation.
Since the first incident, she was called upon once more to perform the Heimlich on a different resident. “I’m their go-to-girl,” she jokes.
Once again, co-workers came to her when they saw another resident in distress. This time the resident was able to talk and asked for the Heimlich. It was still challenging for Steffen who is relieved the residents are okay.
She says, “I just hope that if I were in the same situation, someone would do the same for me.”